Sunday, November 27, 2011

As I've said previously on this blog, in addition to being a huge fan of The Last Unicorn, I'm also a big fan of Peter S. Beagle's other works, including The Innkeeper's Song. Even though adapting The Innkeeper's Song presents some unique challenges, I'm determined to give it a shot. I've already taken stabs at a couple of scenes, and am mulling over how I'd want to stage and/or represent some of the more difficult (i.e. impossible?) to stage moments in the show. Tough issues to solve in this adaptation-

-Keeping the awesome changes in perspective without making the script nothing but first-person narration.

-Nyateneri/Soukyan. Two actors, one male and one female? One actress? A transgender performer? Change the script to such a drastic extent that the gender issue doesn't come up (I hate the idea of that last one, but that is what would be easiest...)

-Horses. This story has lots and lots of riding on horses, which is difficult to represent effectively on stage but also too important to this story to ignore/write around. I know one way to solve this but worry that I'm cribbing too much from the aesthetic of >ahem< another company. (i.e. bicycles...)

-And in general, what can be cut and what must be kept? Adapting novels to the stage is always problematic in that way- you have to willing to 'kill some babies' or else you'll be stuck with a six-hour epic that no one wants to watch.

About Me

I'm a director, actor, and occasional writer for the stage based in Chicago. As you might guess, I'm also completely obsessed (in a good way) with the work of Peter S. Beagle, especially his fantasy novel "The Last Unicorn;" so obsessed, in fact, that I adapted and directed an authorized stage version of it in 2009. Now that that's over, I do have more to say and other projects in the works. You can read about them here. Thanks for stopping by!
Link to license the script for your own production:
http://www.nextgenpublications.com/musicals-last-unicorn.htm
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